Argentine, KS Train Wreck, Oct 1896

PASSENGERS SEVERELY SHAKEN UP, BUT ALL ESCAPE SERIOUS INJURY -- THE TRAINS WERE FOLLOWING ONE ANOTHER CLOSELY THROUGH THE ARGENTINE YARDS CAUSED BY HEAVY FOG.

Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 8 -- Five east-bound Santa Fe trains mixed up in a rear end collision at 6:30 o'clock yesterday just inside the yeard limits in Argentine, Kas. Two were passenger trains and three were stock trains. The collisions were due to a heavy fog. Several passengers and trainmen were slightly injured. The escape of the passengers from serious injury in the wreck is considered almost miraculous. Three engines, two way cars, one Pullman sleeper, two tourist cars, two baggage cars and several stock cars were wrecked.
Those on the trains injured were:
C. B. COLVER of Kingsley, Kan., hand cut and bruised by being thrown from the platform of the sleeper.
MRS. C. B. COLVER, side injured.
O. S. PALMER, porter on tourist car on train No. 2, bruised and side hurt by being thrown against the side of the car.
SANDY GEIR, fireman, on last extra stock train, back injured.
Freight train No. 30, with thirty car loads of stock, had pulled into the yards and stopped to run in on a side-track. Before the caboose cleared the main line an extra freight train that was following close behind crashed into the caboose. Before the crew on the extra could get out danger signals the Oklahoma and Texas express ran into the extra and the California passenger train, which was ten minutes behind, after stopping in answer to the danger signal, was run into by another extra stock train that followed, and the force of the last collision pushed the California train into the rear end of the Oklahoma express. Passengers were thrown from their seats and badly jolted and frightened. The engineers and firemen had time to jump off after reversing their engines. None of the rolling stock was badly damaged, as the trains were running slowly. The trains were running on yard limit time -- five or six miles an hour.
The three stock trains that were in the wreck had over sixty car loads of cattle and sheep. Some of the ends of the cars were crushed in and drawheads were pulled out, but only two or three head of cattle and three or four sheep were injured.